World Cup 2014 Serra da Estrela, Portugal Task 4.4

The Azinha launch was chosen for the westerly forecast and relatively low base day. It is possible to launch earlier from this there so we were able to put in a quick task in the flat-lands to the east in order to escape the westerly winds which were expected to strengthen during the day.

The result was a fast and furious fifty five kilometer race in the robust conditions. Cloud base was at about 2,200m ASL with a mild inversion at 1,500m which split the field early into the race as some punched through the inversion and others scurried along beneath searching for lift on a blue thermal day. The results tell the story with 108 pilots in goal and the first eighty within ten minutes of the task winner. Gin pilots were in the thick of things with Semih, Shingo and Carlos leading the Gin pilots into goal. Semih finished in third place a mere sixteen seconds behind the first pilot!

The last day has brought bad weather, so the competition is over! Andre managed a top ten finish agonisingly close to the podium as the points were bunched up with around one hundred points between first and tenth position. Carlos and Thomas both finished in the top fifteen and the Gin team finished in a respectable sixth position.

It was a brilliant week of flying . Thank you for the support and see you soon!